At the 2022 Velocity Invitational at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, I was riding in the passenger seat on the left of Tanner Foust’s McLaren F1 GTR. Pato O’Ward, driving Ayrton Senna’s 1990 championship-winning McLaren MP4/5B Formula 1, passed me in the corkscrew. Even though my memory of the experience isn’t accurate, if I had to, I would say it was like this: Whoosh, Slide, Squeal (tire), Squeal (me), Squeal (Foust), Vroom, Giggles, cheerful cussing, labored breathing, and a complete and utter loss of consciousness due to happiness. If it’s going to happen anywhere, it will happen here at the 2023 Velocity Invitational. I can’t promise you’ll pass an F1 car while driving one. For those of us who love vintage racing (old racing with a side of hypercars), the Velocity Invitational is the best part of Monterey Car Week. We gave Mario Andretti a Sharpie to use, watched a Zenvo active wing work, and got a walkaround from John Morton, who drove the winning BRE Datsun. The view from above Turn 2 at Laguna was also lovely, and we could drink wine while watching Ferraris and Cobras race below. This weekend is packed with a variety of activities. The race will go north to Sonoma Raceway from November 10–12, 2023. McLaren will be back to celebrate its 60th anniversary with a variety of old cars and cars from Zak Brown’s collection. Brown, Lando Norris, and other IndyCar drivers, as well as O’Ward, will be racing. In the comments, please write interview questions for Norris because we have them planned. Aside from McLaren, a number of other companies will also have their top executive on time. Another company that will be there is Ford. Jim Farley will be driving the track-only GT Mk IV. Ford has been to the event before with cars. “People are very interested in both the Ford GT and its predecessor, the GT40,” says Scott Bartlett, who is in charge of selling sports cars for Ford around the world. “In 2021, Velocity Invitational hosted a reunion of seven Ford GT GTE race cars, alongside our Ford GT MkIV driven by Ford CEO Jim Farley.” He communicated to them that to them his team was thankful for the chance to show off the racing GT and the excited crowd. The DirtFish racing school will be showing off one of its cars and letting people ride along. Along with Ferrari F40s, Porsche 918 Spyders, and McLaren Sennas, the show car paddock will be packed with names that have never been seen before. How can we make this better than 2022? We will only go if Pato O’Ward can fit us into a natural Formula One car. In any case, a ticket for the whole weekend costs $175, which is less than the Vegas Grand Prix, and anyone can join the field, not just famous people.
